


Under Pressure

by destielstony



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Claustrophobia, Hurt Steve Rogers, Immobility, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pepper wants Tony to be happy, Powerful Bots, Protective Tony Stark, Steve is a target, Steve loves Tony, Tony feels sorry, Tony loves Steve, Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 14:26:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13928967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destielstony/pseuds/destielstony
Summary: Tony and Pepper drift farther away from each other as time goes on and when Tony doesn't know if Steve is alive or not he realizes he loves him.





	Under Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> if you want you can check out my Instagram, I am making video edits. It's @rogers.mp4 (I don't know how to hyperlink I am sorry)

"Tony, we cannot live such a life, when do you finally realize that?" Pepper commented as Tony told her once more about Barton's Farm and how much he would like to buy something like that. By the time he told her for what felt like a hundred times, Pepper was annoyed by Tony's constant attempts to convince her to buy a farm, it simply was not her lifestyle. 

 

She liked civilization, technological advancement and most of all her job at Stark Industries. Lately, the two got into fights too often and slept less and less frequently in the same bed. Tony was, accordingly to his habit in his workshop more often and Pepper had enough to do at SI.

 

 Of course, Tony realized that they drifted apart but he did not know what he could do about it. Of course, he had tried, had invited her to Date Nights, but Pepper had no time or did not want to. Tony spent the evenings he planned for Pepper with Steve, who was always there when Tony needed it.

 

He was happy to have someone like Steve in his life, and especially as his teammate or team leader. The others in the team had noticed that it was now Tony who with the passage of time, more and more distanced himself from Pepper and no longer tried to make plans with her and spent his time rather with Steve.

 

It was obvious to Natasha that Tony had not loved Pepper for a long time, she had known them since they came together and they seemed to be done with each other, that much was clear to her. She would never have told Tony about her observations that she thought Steve and he were in a relationship that would probably have ended only in disputes and discussion. 

 

Now she listened to the conversation between Tony and Pepper from the doorway. 

 

"Well, maybe then I do not want a life like that with you." 

 

Tony blurted at her and Pepper looked at him with wide eyes. 

 

"Fine, then live the life without me, it seems to me as if this relationship was nothing for us anyway." 

 

Pepper answered and just as Tony wanted to answer that they would go their separate ways, the Avengers alarm went off. Tony ran to his suit and Natasha got her weapons and with Steve arriving they were at the scene in record time. 

 

On the way to his suit, Tony noticed Natasha had been there the whole time, but he just looked at her and said nothing. Now she wanted to take the chance to ask what exactly had happened. 

 

"Hey Stark, what happened between you and Pepper?" she asked next to him, com disabled when she spoke so Steve would not hear it, if Tony did not want to. 

 

They fought a few robots that they did not know who they came from and who had programmed them, but they were well equipped, grenades flew here and there, sticky bombs Tony had seen, machine guns and they were armored good too, they were hard to destroy. 

 

"We broke up, you heard it Romanov." 

 

Tony responded snappishly and was annoyed by the rugged form of the bots. "And you're okay with that?" she asked again and Tony just nodded before he finally shot away the bots head with a repulsor blast. 

 

"There are still civilians in the house, I'm going to get them out before anything happens to them." 

 

Steve explained, interrupting Nat’s interrogation and got instructions from both to be careful. 

 

It was a high-rise, eight-story building, Tony scanned the house and told Steve that there were civilians only on the first floor, which Steve acknowledged with thanks, and soon a group of people ran out of the house and before Tony could ask where Steve was, something exploded suddenly Visible on the second floor and the house collapsed. 

 

Tony's heart stopped briefly when he did not see Steve among the group of people, who were now looking at the house in terror. 

 

Tony did not hesitate a second and flew to them. "Has the captain still been in the house?" he asked and while most of them just shrugged their shoulders, a young woman, who was the last to come out of the house, nodded. 

 

"Cap, come in, please." he shouted over the com but got no answer. "Natasha, the people here have to be taken to safety, a woman who just came out of the house told me he did not see Cap coming out of the house which means Steve is still in the house. He is under eight floors worth of debris." Tony's lungs tightened. 

 

”If he survived that." he added softly. 

 

"I'm on my way, scan the perimeter and see if you can find signs of life under the wreckage." Nat ordered and Tony nodded hastily even if she could not see it. He scanned the area and got more and more panicked when he saw nothing. 

 

Meanwhile, Steve was under heavy concrete debris that all at once slammed down on him. Of course, he had to lie under a particularly large piece which prevented him from lifting the debris by itself. 

 

In addition, his right arm and his left leg were under something smaller, but still huge pieces of concrete which made him even more immobilized. 

 

"Hello? Tony? Nat? Does anyone copy?" 

 

he tried calling over his com but when he got no answer he guessed that his com must be broken. 

 

Steve hates small spaces, he has always hated them. Now lying on the ground, facing it, trapped under all this debris, his claustrophobia did not improve. 

 

"Does anyone hear me? Please, I'm stuck here." 

 

His words were not particularly loud due to the fact that all the air was forced out of his lungs. Steve somehow tried to lower himself a bit from the ground with his left arm, so he had at least a little more space, but immediately bumped his head into concrete. 

 

He was trapped under debris without any freedom of movement, pain in his upper body that he only noticed when he tried to move, no contact with his team and claustrophobia that got worse by the minute. 

 

"Natasha, my scans cannot find anything." Tony said in panic and was beginning to clear the way by removing concrete pieces. 

 

The mountain that piled up in front of him made him worried about Steve. The bots, oddly enough, had retreated immediately after the house collapsed, and Tony got the suspicion that they were personally after Steve. 

 

Tony cursed that no one else from the team except Natasha, Steve and he were available. 

 

Barton had retired and Thor and Bruce had been on a mission for several days now. 

 

Tony removed concrete for 10 minutes before Natasha came back and looked at him worriedly. Rarely had she seen Tony so worried and when she did, it was always about Steve. She herself could not do much to clear the way but helped out by removing smaller pieces of concrete. That would take them a while, Tony knew that.  

 

Meanwhile Steve had more and more problems to breathe and his whole body was shaking. He breathed too fast and got too much dust in his airway that had now settled in and he had to cough constantly. 

 

"Please, I need-" a cough interrupted him "help. Somebody help!" He cried. 

 

It was unbearable for Steve. In the meantime, some tears had flushed from his eyes, he could not stand it, and he felt as if he would get a panic attack, he had to get out of here as soon as possible. 

 

However, he could do nothing, just wait and hope that Tony and Nat will bring him out here soon. At the thought of the two, another wave of panic overcame him. 

 

What if the bots had hurt them so hard they needed immediate help? 

 

He hoped their coms would not fail and that the bots were easier to defeat. 

 

His breath fastened again as a picture of Tony's seemingly lifeless body unintentionally came to his eyes from when he fell out of the hole in New York and only Hulk had prevented him from shattering to pieces. 

 

Steve could not help but think of the worst scenarios and suffer from the worst panic attack he ever had. 

 

It certainly was not the first, but when he had many others Tony stood by his side and helped him to overcome the whole thing. 

 

He knew it was wrong, that this was not morally okay because Tony had a girlfriend and was happy with her, yet Steve caught himself falling in love with Tony. 

 

He could not help it, the many beautiful moments they spent together and Tony was always there for him, even if he had a nightmare at three in the night, Tony stood in his room and calmed him down, helping him fall asleep again and sometimes, if Steve was lucky, Tony even slept with him in his bed, even though he had never asked. 

 

His cheeks were wet, his breath was hasty and irregular and a whimper left his lips. His face press on the floor, he breathed again and again dust and was now at the point where he coughed too much and vomited his breakfast of this morning in front of him. 

 

Now he was lying there, the stinging smell of the vomit permanently in his nose and felt horrible and a dizziness came over him. 

 

He knew that if he lost consciousness now, he would make it even harder for Tony and Nat to find him if they were looking for him, and he would try everything not to faint. 

 

"Tony." 

 

Natasha tried the attention of the Iron Man, but he was too busy repeatedly throwing concrete blocks in a direction where he knew there would not be anyone. 

 

"Tony." she tried again and tapped Tony on the shoulder. 

 

He was about to tell her that she should leave him alone but he did not because she held Steve’s shield in her hands. 

 

He immediately stopped in his tracks suddenly he felt horrible. If Natasha had his shield, Steve had been completely unprotected from the rubble. Tony did not want to imagine in which condition Steve was now, ignoring the stinging pain in his heart and the dull feeling from his stomach. 

 

He could not lose Steve. 

 

Tony already had a strange feeling in his stomach when he first met Steve, and it only got stronger with each day they spent together. Tony had not paid much attention to it, it was a small crush for him and that was it, he loved Pepper and a small crush on a guy, on one of his teammates wasn’t about to change that. 

 

But the more time they had spent together, the more insecure he became with his love for Pepper and that Steve was just a crush. 

 

And now that he did not know if Steve was alive or if he had lost him forever, he knew it was love. He loved Steve and did not want to imagine a life without him. 

 

"Steve!" 

 

Tony shouted, hoping for an answer that, of course, did not come. Steve, however, had heard Tony, albeit heavily muffled and still far away. 

 

He had tried to answer, but got nothing out of his throat except a stifled sob. He wanted so much to assure Tony that he was alive and that he had to bury him out, but he could not. 

 

All he got out was whimpering and sobbing and he felt so helpless. 

 

For Steve an eternity went by, for Tony, four hours until he heard a faint whimper under a particularly large concrete block. 

 

"Steve?!" 

 

he shouted and as he actually heard a muffled "Tony?" he could hardly believe it. 

 

"Steve, damn, I'll get you out, I'm so sorry, I was not fast enough, and I’ll be with you soon enough, hold on, sweetheart." 

 

Of course, Tony knew about Steve's claustrophobia and therefore had tried to find him as soon as possible. 

 

"Nat, I have him, I know where he is." he shouted to Natasha, who tried to clear the path a little further away to see if Steve was buried underneath. 

 

It took another twenty minutes before Tony finally shoved down the concrete block from Steve and also removed the two smaller ones but now Steve was free. 

 

Immediately he knelt in front of Steve and turned him on his back so that he could breathe freely, free as it was in a small cloud of dust. "Tony, you found Me." sobbed Steve and more tears ran down his cheeks. 

 

He was surprised himself because he still had tears left. 

 

"Sweetheart, I'm with you, you'll be fine, and you’re safe now." Tony tried to reassure him as he always did and heaved Steve's head on his lap and gently stroked his hair. 

 

Nat just stood over them and watched the two of them gazing into each other's eyes as if there was nothing around them. She was relieved and overjoyed that they had found Steve. 

 

"We'll take you out of here now, okay, Sweetheart?" Tony asked and Steve nodded weakly. 

 

Tony knew he had a panic attack and that he was probably completely exhausted now. Gently he picked him up and carried him, bridal style, out of the wreckage. 

 

Steve whimpered when Tony picked him up and that worried him of course but Steve did not say anything that hurt him. Tony took him to the car Nat had come with and was glad she had not taken her little one, so he could put Steve carefully on the back seat. 

 

His eyes were closed and his cheeks were full of tears. 

 

"How is he?" Nat asked and then Tony did notice her properly. 

 

"I think he's drained and tired, probably has a decent string of bruises and maybe a few broken bones, but I think it's nothing serious. Let's go, I'll sit with him, you drive." 

 

Natasha nodded and Tony sat in the back of the car and put Steve's head back on his lap. Before he had gotten in the car, he had taken off his suit because it would have been a little uncomfortable to wear him while sitting in a car. 

 

He gently stroked Steve's hair and whispered soothing words in his ear while the Super Soldier seemed to sleep. 

 

Arriving at Stark Tower, Tony carefully lifted Steve out of the car again, not until he had his suit on, otherwise Steve would have been too heavy, and carried him to his own room, which he did not share with Pepper anymore, in fact more he’d shared it more often with Steve in the last few weeks. 

 

He laid him carefully on the bed and took off his suit. Pepper, who was obviously still at the tower because Tony asked her to wait for him, had followed him and was now leaning against the door frame and looked at Tony who held Steve's hand and looked at him as if he were heaven on earth. 

 

"I noticed, Tony." 

 

Pepper started and Tony was startled at first but then his gaze fell in her direction. He did not know exactly what she was referring to, but he figured she was talking about Steve. 

 

"It was the reason I distanced myself from you, I wanted you not to feel restricted by me and to be able to make your decision in peace, I'm really glad your decision fell on him, really." 

 

Now he looked her directly in the eyes, not only just her direction. "I want you to be happy Tony, if that's with me then I'm glad, if it's with Steve, then that's the way it is, and as long as you're happy and he makes you happy, I do not care." she smiled at him and Tony could not help but get up and hug her. 

 

"I'm sorry, Pep. You deserve better than that." he said, but she just shrugged and left the room. 

 

"Tony." 

 

Came a hoarse call from the bed and Tony walked quickly to Steve again. "Hey baby, how are you? Are you in pain?" he asked worriedly, wiping a few strands of hair from Steve’s forehead. "What was that about Tony?" Steve asked and Tony stroked his thumb over the back of Steve's left hand. 

 

"Pepper and I split up." 

 

Tony explained, not daring to look in Steve's eyes when he asked him why. ”She has noticed that I have fallen in love with someone else," Tony said sheepishly, keeping his eyes fixed on the hand holding his. Tony did not know if Steve could not really put it together or if he was just confused but Steve had just said 'Oh' and pulled his hand away, which turned Tony's gaze back to Steve. 

 

Steve looked hurt, not physically but mentally. Tony's mind flickered and he could not stand Steve bring, so he acted intuitively and pressed his lips to Steve's, which elicited a startled sigh, but he responded immediately and began to move his lips in unison with Tony's and put his left hand to his neck, pulling him down to him. 

 

Tony leaned his hand against Steve and deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into Steve's mouth, much to the delight of Steve. Their tongues explored the other's mouth and Tony's hand found its way to Steve's cheek, he needed something to ground himself in reality, and otherwise he would feel as if it was not real. 

 

A short time later they broke apart, breathing heavily, and remained in position, leaning against each other's forehead. "Well, I think it's safe to believe you've fallen in love with me, right?" Steve asked, and Tony grinned and nodded. 

 

"I love you, Tony." Steve said which made Tony smile even more.

 

He put his hand on Steve's chest from Steve's cheek, which had a flinch of Steve's reaction. "Everything okay?" Tony asked and Steve shook his head. "Pain." He could only say, holding his ribcage. 

 

"JARVIS? Scan Steve for injuries, please. "He panicked his AI and JARVIS obeyed immediately. “It looks like Captain Rogers has three broken ribs, a sprained shoulder and a slight concussion. Nothing serious about Mr. Rogers making the visit to the hospital mandatory." 

 

Tony let out a sigh of relief and Steve did the same. "I’ll heal, Tony", he said only and Tony nodded in agreement. And he did heal, and of course his new boyfriend helped him wherever he could.


End file.
